The present invention relates to a garment which permits generally unrestricted physical movement and which has an integral, rear flap, termed in the art a "drop seat", for permitting, for example, toilet facility utilization by the wearer of the garment without the requirement of taking it off. The present invention has been found to be particularly applicable to the jumpsuit or worksuit types of garments, especially as a garment which permits workmen during their normal job duties to utilize toilet facilities without disrobing and hence will be discussed with particular reference thereto.
In the use of any type of jumpsuit garment which includes a drop seat feature, the drop seat is usually attached to the jumpsuit to form a single piece garment. The jumpsuit must be capable of permitting movements by the wearer of the jumpsuit without any strain on the wearer which for a workman may include sudden and great physical movements. It must also permit easy disengagement and lowering of the drop seat feature and reattaching it to the jumpsuit as desired. While the drop seat is in the raised position, it must stay securely connected in the raised position and not drop thereby causing embarrassment to the wearer. It is preferable for it to also seal the top of the drop seat across the back when not in the lowered position for further modesty. Thus, it is necessary to securely fasten the drop seat to the rest of the jumpsuit in the raised position of the drop seat while at the same time permitting full range of physical movement by the wearer of the jumpsuit.
The broad concept of providing a garment with a slit in the back to provide easy access in the rear is a well known and established design in the prior art. Typical examples thereof in the undergarment arts include drop seats fastened at the side seams forming an overlapping slit in the back portion of the garment at the waist of the garment and held at the waist by elastic binding with the drop slit being movably over the derriere for toiletry purposes. Note for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,787,098 (Wolff; issued December 30, 1930) and 1,871,086 (Rutledge; issued August 9, 1932).
However, this type of drop seat design is not amenable to worksuits or other outer garment construction. In the coverall art, supplemental fastenings are generally required. Jumpsuits with elastic waist binding and various non-belt attaching means for holding a back flap shaped piece of material in place over an opening cut in the jumpsuit garment are generally known in the prior art. The usual methods for supplemental fastening of the drop seat flap to keep it in place known in the prior art include botton fastening means in the front or the back, zipper fastening means along the side of the garment or the back of the garment at the waist, and elastic bands which push through loops that are sewn onto the jumpsuit garment at the waist and then attached by button means to the jumpsuit garment at the sides of the garment, which hold the drop seat to the jumpsuit (or analogous) garment. Note for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,837,654 (Cohen; issued Dec. 22, 1931), 1,398,443 (Pendergrass; issued Nov. 29, 1921), 2,039,946 (Wolf et al; issued May 5, 1936), 3,088,116 (Simonoff; issued May 7, 1963), 1,659,451 (Sweeney; issued Feb. 14, 1928), 2,019,924 (Murphey; issued Nov. 5, 1935) and 1,546,428 (Anderson; issued July 21, 1925). However, these methods lack convenience in disengaging the drop seat from its waist connections to the jumpsuit and are difficult to fabricate because of the materials and structures involved.
Additionally, belting system techniques for attaching the drop seat flap the the rest of a garment when it is not in use and is in the raised position have been known in the prior art. The drop seat flap is usually connected to the belt by sewing the top of the drop seat to the belt as an integral connection, the belt of course binding in the front of the garment to hold the drop seat flap in the raised position and additionally by placing connections in the back of the garment to further support the drop seat flap by securing the belt in position. These connections are either O-rings, buttons, I-rings, or belt loops. Also, the belt is usually either directly sewn onto the side of the garment or additional fastenings sewn to the side of the garment and sewn to the belt. Note for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,967,234 (Fellroth; issued July 24, 1934), 1,137,081 (Pine; issued Apr. 27, 1915), 2,357,532 (Menzin; issued Sept. 5, 1944), 2,093,903 (Bernstein; issued Sept. 21, 1937), 1,537,230 (Godbehere; issued May 12, 1925), 2,368,034 (Martin; issued January 23, 1945), and 1,785,581 (Fellroth; Dec. 16, 1930), which are directed to various types of drop seat garments, some of which are the jumpsuit type.
Also included within the prior art for belting system techniques for attaching the drop seat flap to the rest of the garment when the drop seat flap is not in use and is in the raised position are belt connections to attach the drop seat to the rest of the garment that use no other attachment of the belt to the garment except for the attachment of the drop seat to the belt, the drop seat feature of course being attached to the body of the garment at the bottom edge usually by stitching. The belts' front connection is used to support the drop seat in the raised position. Note for example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,485,793 (McKee; issued Mar. 4, 1924).
However, the prior art garments that use belting systems either entail more expensive fabrication techniques to provide for the additional attachment facilities as compared to the present invention or, when facilities are not provided for attaching the belt to the garment other than on the drop seat flap lower edge, provide less secure means for maintaining the body of the garment and the sides of the drop seat flap together when the drop seat flap is in the raised position. The additional attachment facilities for attaching the belt and drop seat flap to the garment also present difficulties in raising and lowering the drop seat flap when it is required for use of toilet facilities, thereby substantially increasing the time that the workman spends in undoing and redoing the drop seat flap connections.
Additionally, none of the prior art known to applicant discloses means for the securing of the drop seat flap in the raised position in multiple manners including detachably across the back for privacy while still permitting freedom of movement nor does the prior art provide hip expansion, when the shirt tail piece of the jumpsuit garment extends below the drop seat flap. The prior art fails to provide sufficient means to permit expansion for shoulder and back motions when physical acts by the wearer of the jumpsuit garment such as reaching are performed. Additionally, the belting system techniques of the prior art for connection of the drop seat flap to the jumpsuit garment inhibit the ability of the shirt portion of the jumpsuit garment to stretch independently of the drop seat flap and legs of the jumpsuit garment when reaching or bending actions are performed by the wearer of the jumpsuit garment if necessary by detachment at the back connection through sheer force.
In contrast to the prior art, which is plagued by the problems of keeping the drop seat flap firmly attached to the garment while permitting use of attachment methods necessary for external garments such as worksuits, permitting convenient lowering of the drop seat flap when necessary, and permitting great physical movements by the wearer of the garment especially those movements involving reaching, sitting and bending, the prevent invention utilizes a very simple but highly effective design to secure the drop seat flap firmly to the body of the jumpsuit garment. The design of the jumpsuit garment also allows secure connection of the jumpsuit garment to the drop seat flap while eliminating the problems of restrained physical movements and difficult to manage attachment and detachment of the jumpsuit garment from the top of the drop seat flap while supplying additional attachment for further modesty. The present invention, while utilizing a belt having a connection to the drop seat flap at its upper edge by integral sewing of the drop seat flap to the belt, utilizes attaching means of the belt to the jumpsuit garment that prevents slippage of the drop seat flap thereby keeping it securely connected to the jumpsuit garment.
The present invention utilizes a drop seat flap connected usually by stitching to the body of the jumpsuit garment at the bottom and lower side edges. The drop seat flap is additionally connected at its top edge to a belt which in the raised position of the drop seat flap is connected at the side of the jumpsuit garment at two points by button connection means with fixed connections to the jumpsuit garment between the button and lower side connections of the drop seat flap and further pressure connections between the two side connections of the belt to the jumpsuit garment such as a "Velcro" type connection. Additionally, the belt has at least one elastic piece in the back which stretches as the belt is connected to the two buttons and also as the belt is connected in front. Additional metal snap connections may also be used. Thus, the drop seat flap is secured in a multiple manner to the jumpsuit garment by the elastic, the pressure connections and the side connections of the belt while the drop seat flap is in the raised position. For disconnection purposes, the belt is disengaged in the front and the buttons are disengaged quickly and easily with the Velcro connection pulled there by sheer force, permitting the belt to be completely free to permit the drop seat flap to be lowered. Additionally, because the belting if fixedly attached at the side rather than the rear with the only rear connection being of the pressure type subject to disengagement automatically by sheer or normal forces, neither the belt nor its attachments restrain the back shirt portion of the jumpsuit garment from movement as the wearer of the jumpsuit garment moves. Therefore, stretching and bending is much more comfortable and less restrained as a result of free movement of the fabric of the back shirt of the jumpsuit garment when the drop seat flap is in the raised position while still permitting additional modesty connection during normal, unstrained wear. Also, the back shirting has an expansion fold permitting easy and comfortable reach by the arms of the wearer of the jumpsuit garment in either direction without fabric pulling. Moreover, the shirting of the jumpsuit garment extends below the line where the drop seat attaches to the jumpsuit garment at the belt to permit further protection and comfort in the jumpsuit garment cover by the drop seat flap. Additionally, the ends of the back shirting of the jumpsuit garment terminate with two slits hidden by the folds at each side of the back of the shirt which permits the shirt to expand across the hip area for greater freedom of movement of the wearer of the jumpsuit garment.
Thus in summary, the present invention provides a unitary body garment that covers at least the upper and central torso including the shoulders, back, "derriere", and upper thighs, and includes an improved "drop seat" design, the improvement in the "drop seat" comprising the following structure: a drop seat flap connected to the garment along its sides at only two points with pressure connection along the back of the garment, a bottom fixed connection and a top fastenable connection, with preferably no fixed or fastenable connections therebetween, and a tail piece bridging across the full back of the garment and having two, free, vertical slits therein, both slits being substantially removed from the side junction lines between the flap and the tail piece; and a belt at and across the upper end of the drop seat flap having at least partially along its length elastic sections as well as part of the pressure connection, the belt ends extending out past the side edges of the flap and being completely free from the body garment when the drop seat structure is used in operation.
The present invention further includes the additional features outlined below:
the slits are hidden by folds; PA1 the elastic section is preferably in one part; PA1 the pressure connection is preferably in one part; PA1 quick release buttons are used for the fastenable connections; PA1 the tail piece extends below the fixed connection (for example 3/4 inch) of the drop flap; PA1 the junction line is free of any slits.
As to the basic advantages of the present invention over the prior art, in general the present invention is simpler and easier to manufacture than the prior art and is simpler and easier to use and more comfortable in wear. Yet the drop seat structure of the present invention is at least as reliable, if not more reliable, in its closing and covering of the rear of the garment than the prior art.